Genesis 48:22

48:22 As one who is above your ¹  brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, ²  which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

Numbers 21:21-32

The Victory over Sihon and Og

21:21 ³ Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying, ⁴ 

21:22 “Let us ⁵  pass through your land; ⁶  we will not turn aside into the fields or into the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King’s Highway until we pass your borders.” 21:23 But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he ⁷  gathered all his forces ⁸  together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When ⁹  he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. 21:24 But the Israelites ¹⁰  defeated him in battle ¹¹  and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended. 21:25 So Israel took all these cities; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. ¹²  21:26 For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, ¹³  as far as the Arnon. 21:27 That is why those who speak in proverbs ¹⁴  say,

“Come to Heshbon, let it be built.

Let the city of Sihon be established! ¹⁵ 

21:28 For fire went out from Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sihon.

It has consumed Ar of Moab

and the lords ¹⁶  of the high places of Arnon.

21:29 Woe to you, Moab.

You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! ¹⁷ 

He has made his sons fugitives,

and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites.

21:30 We have overpowered them; ¹⁸ 

Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon.

We have shattered them as far as Nophah,

which ¹⁹  reaches to Medeba.”

21:31 So the Israelites ²⁰  lived in the land of the Amorites. 21:32 Moses sent spies to reconnoiter ²¹  Jaazer, and they captured its villages ²²  and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

Deuteronomy 20:17

20:17 Instead you must utterly annihilate them ²³  – the Hittites, ²⁴  Amorites, ²⁵  Canaanites, ²⁶  Perizzites, ²⁷  Hivites, ²⁸  and Jebusites ²⁹  – just as the Lord your God has commanded you,

Joshua 3:10

3:10 Joshua continued, ³⁰  “This is how you will know the living God is among you and that he will truly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.

Joshua 24:15

24:15 If you have no desire ³¹  to worship ³²  the Lord, choose today whom you will worship, ³³  whether it be the gods whom your ancestors ³⁴  worshiped ³⁵  beyond the Euphrates, ³⁶  or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family ³⁷  will worship ³⁸  the Lord!”

Joshua 24:2

24:2 Joshua told all the people, “Here is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘In the distant past your ancestors ³⁹  lived beyond the Euphrates River, ⁴⁰  including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. They worshiped ⁴¹  other gods,

Joshua 21:2

21:2 in Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said, “The Lord told Moses to assign us cities in which to live along with the grazing areas for our cattle.”

Joshua 21:2

21:2 in Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said, “The Lord told Moses to assign us cities in which to live along with the grazing areas for our cattle.”

Joshua 21:11

21:11 They assigned them Kiriath Arba (Arba was the father of Anak), that is, Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with its surrounding grazing areas.

Amos 2:9

2:9 For Israel’s sake I destroyed the Amorites. ⁴² 

They were as tall as cedars ⁴³ 

and as strong as oaks,

but I destroyed the fruit on their branches ⁴⁴ 

and their roots in the ground. ⁴⁵ 

[48:22]  ¹ tn The pronouns translated “your” and “you” in this verse are singular in the Hebrew text.

[48:22]  ² tn The Hebrew word שְׁכֶם (shÿkhem) could be translated either as “mountain slope” or “shoulder, portion,” or even taken as the proper name “Shechem.” Jacob was giving Joseph either (1) one portion above his brothers, or (2) the mountain ridge he took from the Amorites, or (3) Shechem. The ambiguity actually allows for all three to be the referent. He could be referring to the land in Shechem he bought in Gen 33:18-19, but he mentions here that it was acquired by warfare, suggesting that the events of 34:25-29 are in view (even though at the time he denounced it, 34:30). Joseph was later buried in Shechem (Josh 24:32).

[21:21]  ³ sn For this section, see further J. R. Bartlett, “Sihon and Og of the Amorites,” VT 20 (1970): 257-77, and “The Moabites and the Edomites,” Peoples of Old Testament Times, 229-58; S. H. Horn, “The Excavations at Tell Hesban, 1973,” ADAJ 18 (1973): 87-88.

[21:21]  ⁴ tc Smr and the LXX have “words of peace.”

[21:22]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the singular in these verses to match the reference to “Israel.”

[21:22]  ⁶ tc Smr has “by the King’s way I will go. I will not turn aside to the right or the left.”

[21:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “Sihon.”

[21:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “people.”

[21:23]  ⁹ tn The clause begins with a preterite with vav (ו) consecutive, but may be subordinated to the next preterite as a temporal clause.

[21:24]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text has “Israel,” but the verb is plural.

[21:24]  ¹¹ tn Heb “with the edge of the sword.”

[21:25]  ¹² tn Heb “its daughters.”

[21:26]  ¹³ sn There is a justice, always, in the divine plan for the conquest of the land. Modern students of the Bible often think that the conquest passages are crude and unjust. But an understanding of the ancient Near East is critical here. This Sihon was not a part of the original population of the land. He himself invaded the territory and destroyed the population of Moab that was indigenous there and established his own kingdom. The ancient history is filled with such events; it is the way of life they chose – conquer or be conquered. For Israel to defeat them was in part a turning of their own devices back on their heads – “those that live by the sword will die by the sword.” Sihon knew this, and he did not wait, but took the war to Israel. Israel wanted to pass through, not fight. But now they would either fight or be pushed into the gorge. So God used Israel to defeat Sihon, who had no claim to the land, as part of divine judgment.

[21:27]  ¹⁴ sn Proverbs of antiquity could include pithy sayings or longer songs, riddles, or poems composed to catch the significance or the irony of an event. This is a brief poem to remember the event, like an Egyptian victory song. It may have originated as an Amorite war taunt song; it was sung to commemorate this victory. It was cited later by Jeremiah (48:45-46). The composer invites his victorious people to rebuild the conquered city as a new capital for Sihon. He then turns to address the other cities which his God(s) has/have given to him. See P. D. Hanson, “The Song of Heshbon and David’s Nir,” HTR 61 (1968): 301.

[21:27]  ¹⁵ tn Meaning, “rebuilt and restored.”

[21:28]  ¹⁶ tc Some scholars emend to בָּלְעָה (bal’ah), reading “and devoured,” instead of בַּעֲלֵי (ba’aley, “its lords”); cf. NAB, NRSV, TEV. This emendation is closer to the Greek and makes a better parallelism, but the MT makes good sense as it stands.

[21:29]  ¹⁷ sn The note of holy war emerges here as the victory is a victory over the local gods as well as over the people.

[21:30]  ¹⁸ tc The first verb is difficult. MT has “we shot at them.” The Greek has “their posterity perished” (see GKC 218 §76.f).

[21:30]  ¹⁹ tc The relative pronoun “which” (אֲשֶׁר, ’asher) posed a problem for the ancient scribes here, as indicated by the so-called extraordinary point (punta extraordinaria) over the letter ר (resh) of אֲשֶׁר. Smr and the LXX have “fire” (אֵשׁ, ’esh) here (cf. NAB, NJB, RSV, NRSV). Some modern scholars emend the word to שֹׁאָה (sho’ah, “devastation”).

[21:31]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Israel.”

[21:32]  ²¹ tn Heb “Moses sent to spy out.”

[21:32]  ²² tn Heb “daughters.”

[20:17]  ²³ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “utterly.” Cf. CEV “completely wipe out.”

[20:17]  ²⁴ sn Hittite. The center of Hittite power was in Anatolia (central modern Turkey). In the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 b.c.) they were at their zenith, establishing outposts and colonies near and far. Some elements were obviously in Canaan at the time of the Conquest (1400-1350 b.c.).

[20:17]  ²⁵ sn Amorite. Originally from the upper Euphrates region (Amurru), the Amorites appear to have migrated into Canaan beginning in 2200 b.c. or thereabouts.

[20:17]  ²⁶ sn Canaanite. These were the indigenous peoples of the land of Palestine, going back to the beginning of recorded history (ca. 3000 b.c.). The OT identifies them as descendants of Ham (Gen 10:6), the only Hamites to have settled north and east of Egypt.

[20:17]  ²⁷ sn Perizzite. This probably refers to a subgroup of Canaanites (Gen 13:7; 34:30).

[20:17]  ²⁸ sn Hivite. These are usually thought to be the same as the Hurrians, a people well-known in ancient Near Eastern texts. They are likely identical to the Horites (see note on “Horites” in Deut 2:12).

[20:17]  ²⁹ tc The LXX adds “Girgashites” here at the end of the list in order to list the full (and usual) complement of seven (see note on “seven” in Deut 7:1).

[3:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “said.”

[24:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “if it is bad in your eyes.”

[24:15]  ³² tn Or “to serve.”

[24:15]  ³³ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:15]  ³⁴ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:15]  ³⁵ tn Or “served.”

[24:15]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity; see v. 3.

[24:15]  ³⁷ tn Heb “house.”

[24:15]  ³⁸ tn Or “will serve.”

[24:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “your fathers.”

[24:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the river,” referring to the Euphrates. This has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:2]  ⁴¹ tn Or “served.”

[2:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “I destroyed the Amorites from before them.” The translation takes מִפְּנֵי (mippÿney) in the sense of “for the sake of.” See BDB 818 s.v. פָּנֻה II.6.a and H. W. Wolff, Joel and Amos (Hermeneia), 134. Another option is to take the phrase in a spatial sense, “I destroyed the Amorites, [clearing them out] from before them [i.e., Israel]” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[2:9]  ⁴³ tn Heb “whose height was like the height of cedars.”

[2:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “his fruit from above.”

[2:9]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “and his roots from below.”